WE’RE ALL CHARLIE BROWN, SORTA
CHRIS CARRA IS SPOT-ON WHEN HE DESCRIBES “How the Beloved ‘Peanuts’ Found Its Way to Define the Modern Comic Strip,” Smithsonian, July August 2025: Carra writes, “With poignant wisdom and … Continue reading
TRUMP’S SCIENCE AND FeS2
IRON PYRITE, FeS2, OF COURSE, IS “FOOL’S GOLD.” And a recent editorial in the American Association for the Advancement of Science Science magazine describes the phoniness of Trump’s Executive Order … Continue reading
SEE THAT AGAIN
KATRINA MILLER WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, June 26, 2025, “The Best Illusion of the Year contest offers researchers, and participants, an opportunity to explore the gaps and limits … Continue reading
CARS OF THE STARS REDUX AGAIN
THE 1934 FLICK THE GAY DIVORCEE DESERVES an award among car enthusiasts: Not only does it feature three of the era’s classic automobiles, but one of them was actually owned … Continue reading
WHAT IS CLASSICAL MUSIC?
COMPOSER/CONDUCTOR MATTHEW AUCOIN ASKS “Do You Actually Know What Classical Music Is? Does Anyone?,” The Atlantic, April 15, 2025. This captures my eye because I include classical among my musical … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR MAC ’N’ CHEESE (AND FOR HISTORY AND NON-BINARY GENDER)
SO THERE I WAS, READING “THE ORIGINAL MACARONI CHEESE” by Eleanor Barnett in BBC HISTORY. She evidently knows her stuff, being as she is a food historian at Cardiff University. … Continue reading
MY NEW FAV AT THE ATLANTIC
“IT TURNS OUT,” ALEXANDRA PETRI WRITES IN THE ATLANTIC (with tongue firmly in cheek), “someone in the Trump administration automatically texts you a free scoop as sort of a welcome … Continue reading
MISS MANNERS AND TRUMP PART 2
TRUMP’S UTTERLY CALLOUS COMMENTS following the recent Minnesota horrors prompted me to consult Miss Manners as something of a purgative. Here in Part 2 we continue with her views on … Continue reading
CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH
TODAY, JUNE 19, 2025, IS THE FIFTH OFFICIAL FEDERAL CELEBRATION of the Juneteenth National Independence Day, enacted on June 17, 2021 by President Joe Biden. Etymology. Wikipedia recounts, “Juneteenth is … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
MISS MANNERS AND TRUMP PART 1
MY MISS MANNERS’ GUIDE TO EXCRUCIATINGLY CORRECT BEHAVIOR is the updated 2005 edition, not that things haven’t changed in the past two decades. In particular, Trump’s reactions to recent Minnesota … Continue reading →